Greens and independents do deal with Federal Labor
By Aaron Cordy
WHILE the Greater Shepparton community rallied behind Mayor Cr Shane Sali to stop the water buybacks going ahead last Monday, the Federal Labor Government struck a deal with the Greens party that no one in the Murray Darling communities wanted.
Despite calls from groups like the National Farmers Federation (NFF) to stop the water buybacks, Independent senators, Lidia Thorpe, Victoria, David Pocock, ACT and David Van, Victoria along with the Greens Party gave the Albanese Government the votes to pass the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023.
“If the government was to take an additional 450GL from irrigators our local growers will be severely impacted. This legislation would impact people’s jobs and livelihoods, leaving rural communities decimated,” said Cr Sali.
“Local food manufacturing must be protected, less water means less food produced, leading to higher costs. We will now work to continue the conversation and make sure the message is clear – Keep the Goulburn Valley thriving. Water buybacks hurt communities.”
Under the new deal the additional 450Gl of water for South Australia, which was always optional, became a core part of the plan with milestones and a timeline for recovery. The trouble is the lack of testing on the plan’s impact has led to a lack of understanding from government ministers in charge of the water bill and members of the Senate who voted for it.
Federal Member for Nicholls, Sam Birrell, who has been pushing for a better outcome with the water buybacks since he was elected last year, was in Canberra last week again fighting for the region.
“It is a clear betrayal and the end of the bipartisan approach to water reform; It will hurt production, increase costs, impact jobs and the prosperity of basin communities,” Mr Birrell said.
“The Coalition fought for a strong socio-economic neutrality test to protect communities and for a cap on water buybacks, but these were rejected.”
Senator David Van, who voted yes on the Restoring Rivers Bill only did so after he reached an agreement with Water Minister Tania Plibersek and visited irrigation areas around Echuca, Kerang and Shepparton in October and met with representatives of the Murray River Group of Councils as well as business owners and industry leaders to discuss their concerns about the water buybacks.
The first amendment Senator Van successfully introduced involved the introduction of a ‘leasing’ option as a water recovery instrument, which presents farmers with three choices: selling their water entitlements via the buybacks, leasing water to the Commonwealth or selling an entitlement, and leasing back water from the Commonwealth. He also negotiated to bring a socio-economic factor back into the water recovery process, which has been a big part of the disconnect on all sides.
“I can hand on heart say if people look at the flexibility that they now have and all the benefits that can bring them vs the one-off hit from the buyback system people in the region should be celebrating these changes,” said Mr Van.
Despite the concessions Mr Van included in the bill many don’t believe it is enough to save this precious resource.
Liberal Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell took the concerns of the community to State Parliament last week when she questioned Water Minister Harriet Shing over whether she was prepared to offset water buybacks in Victoria to discourage the Commonwealth-sanctioned buybacks and ensure no water was lost from food production.
“The Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing must stop putting Labor first and Victoria second. It is time she stood up to the Commonwealth Minister Tanya Plibersek by finding a way to prevent water buybacks in Victoria,” said Ms Lovell.
In the end, words from the politicians on both sides of the bill will mean little when the summer heat rises and that precious water becomes all the more vital.
